Prized Mates
by OmiWun68
Summary: The Tallest decide to turn Earth into a new Exile planet but, after reviewing footage sent in by Zim, they decide to call him, Skoodge, and Tak back to Irk to do some tests. The three are gone for several years and have now returned to Earth with their findings. *Story contains ZADR, male/male, bullying, violence, rape, non-con, alcohol, smut, adult themes, more tags to add later*
1. Prologue: Hi-Skool

**Disclaimer: Most characters belong to Jhonen Vasquez. I do not own any of the main characters.**

 **Prologue: Hi-Skool**

As if grade skool and junyor-hi were not bad enough, hi-skool was that much worse. A whole new school with all new classmates should have been the start to a new life. Too bad the kids he had gone to school with before had also joined him in the current one, so his old reputation about being crazy was not forgotten, just expanded on to yet more people. His first year, he tried to make at least one new friend, but once they were told of how bad his reputation was they never stayed around to talk to him much longer. A few tried, thinking that it might just be rumors, until He showed up at the school as well; then it was back to their constant fighting. The only difference was that the one had quit trying to expose the other to the rest of humanity. Why bother when everyone was too stupid to notice what was right in front of them this whole time?

Zim had been a couple weeks late starting school that year. His excuse, when one of their old classmates asked, was that he had been on holiday and had only just arrived back the day before. It explained why Dib had not seen him in the last month or signs that there was any activity at his base but when he asked Zim where he had gone the only answer he was given was that the shorter green "teen" had gone back home. This news worried Dib, yet the look on his enemies face had him wondering. 'Why would Zim be upset that he had a chance to go home?'

The first year started off as all the others years had, Dib and Zim constantly fighting when near each other; though, they came to a silent truce not to fight on school grounds anymore as both were tired of getting stuck in detention all the time. After the first few times, the principal decided that enough was enough and if they boys continued to fight then they would be both expelled. Neither wanted that outcome so, aside from being in some of the same classes or passing each other in the halls, they tried to avoid the others presence as best as possible. At least until classes were over.

As the year continued, Zim began to see less and less of Dib around the school. He noticed Dib began leaving before school was even done some days and others he would come to school with fresh wounds. This made Zim very curious as they had not gotten into many fights aside from verbal since the year before. Near the middle of the year, he noticed Dib talking to a few of the larger humans, sports-jocks-thingies, one day and saw that they were leading him to one of the quieter areas behind the school so he decided to follow. That is when he found that those larger ones were using the human as a punching bag. Zim was very confused as he watched though; Dib was a great fighter, Zim knew this first hand, yet not once did he try to fight back against what the others were doing to him. Finally, Zim could not take watching any longer; how DARE someone aside from himself harm his personal enemy!?

"What do you think you smelly meat-bags are doing?! That is MY hyuman you are laying your icky hands on. I never said that you could touch him."

Zim stood there, hands on hips and one eye squinted into a glare at the four people surrounding Dib. One held the boys arms behind his back and had used the angle to arch him back while another, their leader, was busy driving his fist into Dibs stomach. At Zim's words, they stopped to look at who was interrupting them. Upon seeing that it was Zim, one who had a reputation for being a vicious fighter, the others turned to their leader for a decision. None of them wanted to get into a fight they knew they could not win.

"Good thing your boyfriend came to save you this time," Lug whispered into Dib's ear, just loud enough for the others to snicker at his words but not loud enough for Zim to hear, "next time, you should remember to finish our homework as well so that this never happens again."

With those final words, he drove his fist into Dib's stomach once again before signaling to drop the boy and leave. As they passed Zim, Lug turned to the green boy, telling him, "he's all yours," before leading the others away around the corner. Once Zim could no longer hear them nearby, he turned and made his way towards Dib to see how much damage was done.

Coming up beside the prone boy, he crouched down to try and turn him over so that he could see the wounds. A hand shot out as he reached forward to smack his away as the one on the ground eased himself up onto his hands and knees. After a few moments, the scythe haired teen edged his body back a bit so that he could use the nearest wall to prop himself up and get his breathing back under control. Once he was able to take a proper breath, Dib cracked open an eye to glare up at the other who was still perched above him.

"Thanks Zim, but you can fuck off now. You probably just made it worse for me from now on." He closed his eye again to help ease his headache before getting up to head home and tend to his wounds. Not hearing the other leave, he opened his eyes once again and raised a brow in silent question to the other.

"Dib-beast, why do you allow them to do this to you? You are much stronger than they are. Zim knows. You fight Zim all the time for years now. Out of all these PATHETIC worm-babies, you are the only one that can keep up with the AMAZING ZIM!"

Dib sighed and slowly pushed himself up from the wall, forcing Zim to back up and get up as well so that Dib did not tower over him more than usual. He hated that Dib had grown over the years where he had barely changed from the time he landed on the planet when the human was 11. Yes, he was an adult within his race, but it still angered him that the Dib, who was still a child, was becoming taller than himself.

"Go back to class Zim, you would not understand if I tried to explain it to you anyway. How could the one saying they are the defender of Earth be the one hurting those they say that they are defending?"

Zim only huffed back at the boy and gave him a quizzical look as he watched the teen pick up his bag and slowly make his way off the school property and towards his home. After watching until he was out of sight, Zim turned and headed in to his next class, English, the only one that he was having trouble with. He would just copy his notes from Skoodge once they got home and have him explain the class to him again. Stupid English and their Stupid spelling of words.

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	2. Second Year

**Chapter 1: Second Year**

Several months passed since the incident with the bullies and Dib continued to be more and more distant with Zim to the point of avoiding him for weeks at a time. Tak had returned to Earth after the Armada found her drifting in space. She was healed and send back in exile for having quit her previous job. With her arrival came a message from the Tallest as well, Earth was now deemed an Exile Planet since it was so far away from any other habited planets. Zim was to stop trying to destroy the place, though he never got very far in any of his plans, and just live there among the humans. His new assignment was to help any of the future exiles adapt to the human culture.

With the coming of Tak's news, Dib decided there was no need to constantly monitor Zim and left him and his household alone. Now and then he would check his cameras to see if they were not just trying to fool him but nothing more than that. He also began to miss his constant fights with Zim. He took to science more like his father wanted but the thrill was not there like it was when he was battling Zim. Even helping his father with the more advanced research and experiments was not enough to keep him interested. It was all too easy after having learned how to work alien technology that was much more advanced than most of the things in Membrane's labs.

Now and then Skoodge or Tak, mostly Skoodge, would ask him about something to do with humans that they could not understand and wanted better clarification. Zim was normally not much help with most of their questions, especially when it came to things like emotions, relationships, religion, family, and why humans do some of the things they do. When Skoodge asked him one day why the humans were trying to destroy their own planet he had no idea how to answer that except to say that most people were ignorant. Tak's questions on human mating and all the different forms were just as hard and had him direct her to the net instead of explain things. Questions like family structure were much easier to explain.

Both Tak and Gaz could be seen sitting together at lunch now. After her return, the two girls became closer to the point of friendship. Their mutual dislike of the world had them talking more. Once Tak showed Gaz the irken equivalent of video games, virtual reality battle simulations, Gaz spent most of her weekends over at Zim's base playing them and battling against Tak. Zim was not pleased to have a human in his base but it kept both Tak and Gaz from beating him up. After the first few times he came to school covered in bandages and limping he finally decided to let them be and just open the door if Gaz showed up on his doorstep.

Keef had finally come back to school after so long being in the Crazy House for Boys. The official reason that everyone was given for his release was that the new medication the doctors had him on was working. He no longer saw a squirrel as being his best friend that he followed all over. The real reason was that Dib had decided to figure out what had happened to his old classmate and, during visits with Keef, had found a way to fix his eyes. With the help of his father, since it was for REAL SCIENCE, he was able to take Keef to one of the labs for testing until the surgery was complete. The redhead would never get his normal eyes back, but he did not mind; these looked like his old ones enough and all of the alien technology was rather neat. At least now he could go about his day like all the others his age and the years he had spent in a padded room had helped him to calm down.

After Dib introduced them, Skoodge had taken a liking to Keef right away. The human was still a bit wary at first of the other alien since his encounter with Zim but Dib reassured him that the two were nothing alike. Once Keef started to warm up more to the smaller green person, they could usually be seen together in class or at lunch. If they did anything after school it was usually go to a movie or try to find some other form of amusement. Neither was allowed to have the other at their homes so they found other places to go. Dib was invited more often than not, or they would show up at his place to hang out, but he always got a bit anxious with the ready-to-please attitude of the other two so could not handle being around them all the time like they wanted. They were his best friends, aside from his sister, but there was only so much happiness he could stand. The boys even decided to spend holiday weekends at Dib's for a sleepover so that he would not get lonely with his sister being with Tak for so many days. After the first night of both of them trying to sleep in his small single bed with him, he decided to just buy a bunk bed and put it in the spare bedroom with the other bed so that they could all stay in there. Tallest forbid that Dib tried to stay in his room without them. If he did that they would probably join him thinking that he was lonely.

It was now the third month of their second year and Dib had noticed a few strange things happening with the three irkens. Though they were all full grown adults by their race, Skoodge being almost 300 and Tak at least 100, they were beginning to have a growth spurt. For a while, Dib thought that it may be because their species aged differently than humans and this was normal for them. That proven wrong one night when he asked Skoodge and the other said that their species was generally all about elementary height compared to humans. Very few ever got any taller than that. Aside from Tak who had grown about half a foot, it was only a slight change in their height. None of them were too worried about it and thought it may have something to do with the gravity on the planet or the new foods they were eating. They were not that much taller, Tak being maybe 5 feet as the tallest, but it was enough that they did not look too much like children anymore. With their slight increase in height, their bodies changed a bit as well. Skoodge was slightly more muscular, his fat decreasing to give him a bit more of a football player look. Tak did not change much for her body shape but her teeth did change; as she grew they became even sharper. Skoodge explained that females were rare in his species and they were much more dominant and violent than the males. Dib silently thanked the Tallest that Zim had not been a female or the planet may have actually been in trouble.

Dib was currently studying the irken across the room who was mindlessly stabbing at his lunch while staring off into space. After all of these years Zim still tried to blend in as a human by buying the cafeteria lunch even though he could not eat most of the foods. He had found a few things, snacks and some fruits and vegetables, that he could eat, but he refused to just tell people that he was a vegan. Something about vegans and him not wanting to fall in with fad crowds. Dib stopped paying attention after having suggested it once Zim started going into one of his tirades so he never caught most what the green boy was ranting about. It was probably a stupid reason anyway. At the moment, the extraterrestrial seemed to be in very deep thought and not paying attention to those around him or the human that was watching him. As Dib watched, a frown passed over the green ones face and Zim stabbed at his plate much harder than before, bending the spoon and making his hand slip into the strange meat which was being served that day. He hissed in pain, snapping out of his thoughts, and quickly wiped off the offending matter before getting up to toss the contents of his tray in the garbage and leave.

Once Zim was gone, Dib went back to half paying attention to what Keef and Skoodge were talking about. It was something about a Halloween party that one of their classmates was having that weekend and everyone was invited. Dib did not feel like going, he was not a big fan of any of his classmates, but both of the other two boys would not stop bugging him about it. He knew they really wanted to go but said that if he was not going then neither would they. The alternative would be them all staying at his place to have drinks and handing out candy while they played some silly games the boys would come up with. The party was a much better idea than another day at home. Even his sister was going to be there since she was going with Tak and they wanted to compete to see who could out drink the other and the booze was going to be free.

He finally agreed with them that he would go and the two decided to plan out matching costumes. Dib ignored their ideas as the bell rang for the end of lunch period and he began to head towards his next class, biology, in which he shared with Zim. They were told that today they would be dissecting frogs and he was excited to be able to do some hands on work. School was just too easy, he already knew what they were teaching in the books anyway, the only reason he did not try to just skip ahead to finish was that he had yet to make any plans for his future now that Zim was not going to blow them all up. There were just too many fields that he could go into but none of them interested him as much as space and the paranormal did. His top choices were in engineering and in medicine. Perhaps he could use his knowledge of irken technology to help advance that on Earth so that he could travel the stars as well. Was that or go into medicine so that he could continue to help those in need. Unless he just follows the same path as Membrane and just do what he feels like doing at the time, in the name of REAL SCIENCE of course.

Aside from Biology class, the rest of the day went by rather slowly. After Biology was Calculus, followed by Phys. Ed to finish off the day. Dib had long ago surpassed most of his classmates in in Phys. Ed. thanks to all of his battles with Zim over the years. He did not, however, want to be noticed for this and have one of the teams or clubs try to force him into joining them so each day he made sure to only give a moderate effort. None of the other students or teachers had noticed that by the end of the classes he did not even seem winded or sweaty like the other students. He always made sure to be the first one to the locker rooms and change in one of the stalls so that he would not be bothered by the jocks and bullies when they came in a few minutes later. His clothes were purposefully baggy on his frame and he wore long sleeves under his gym shirt and sweatpants instead of shorts to cover up that he was not just skin and bone like everyone assumed. His body was actually quite toned from all of the cardio and martial arts that he did. Since it was the last class of the day he would just head home right after class to change and shower so that he could leave sooner.

Today had been an exception to his routine though. When he got to his locker it was to find that his gym clothes were not there and he had to track down a new set or face getting suspended by the coach. He was able to borrow one of Keef's spare sets and they made it to the locker rooms as the other students were changing. The two stalls were already in use so he had to change at the locker with the rest of the students. Keef knew how self-conscious Dib was of his body so stood next to him to block some of Dib's body from the others. Even with him and Skoodge always telling him how good he looked, scars and all, Dib was embarrassed by all of the marks on his body. They were mostly put there by Zim during one fight or another. He knew that if people saw them though then there would be a lot of questions that he did not want to answer. Even with Keef's help and trying to be as quick as he could he was still noticed. It was such an odd occurrence for him to be there with them how could the other guys not notice him. Just as Dib was about to pull on the shirt he heard footsteps coming up behind him just before he was spun around and pinned against the locker. One hand came out to tangle his arms in the shirt at his forearms and pin his hands above his head.

"What is this Dib? When did you get all emo and start cutting yourself? It bet it was after your boyfriend broke up with you last year when he saw how pathetic you really are. Looks like you even tried to kill yourself over it." Lug pointed out one of the larger scars on Dib's chest where a leg from Zim's pack had once pierced him near his shoulder. He remembered fainting from the pain and blood loss and then waking up back in his own room, mostly healed. He figured Zim had patched him up and sent him home but why he had even bothered to save him always troubled Dib.

"Like you even care Lug. And if it was self-harm then how would I get some of the marks that are on my back? I can't even reach those spots." Dib didn't even bother to struggle against the other boy's grip, knowing that to do so would only make matters worse.

Keef reached over and began tugging on Lug's arm, "leave him alone Lug. Can't you see that he has been through enough? He does not need you to make it worse."

Lug laughed at Keef's attempts to pull him off of the pinned teen and used his free hand to shove the smaller boy away. With the sudden push, Keef lost his balance and fell back onto the benches just as Zim and Skoodge walked into the locker rooms. Skoodge ran to his companion and helped the boy back to his feet while Zim stood frozen in the entrance. His eyes were glued to the sight of Dib's body on display, hardly anything covering his lithe form as it was pressed up against the lockers. He had not seen the boy in such a state for a few years now, not since he last experimented on that body. The changes he was seeing now had him thrown off and Zim could not figure out why it affected him so much. It took a few moments before he dashed forward as well to confront the one that was holding his nemesis in place.

"Lug, what have I told you before? Do not touch what is not yours!" Zim reached up and easily removed the bullies hand from the boy, crushing the fingers in his grasp and nearly breaking a few of them.

Lug hissed in pain and pulled his hand away from the smaller green teen. How someone that was so tiny could ever be so strong was beyond any of the students or teachers imagination. Both Zim and Skoodge were still the size of children compared to the rest of their class and yet everyone had seen them do amazing feats of strength. Once, when Skoodge had first started at their school, one of the senior bullies had parked his vehicle on top of book Skoodge dropped. While everyone was laughing at him, he had just shrugged it off, lifted the truck with one hand, and retrieved his book with the other. From that point he was left be. Zim was just known as being crazy and loved to fight. Many a student who had angered him were sent to the nurse's office, if not the hospital.

"You don't even speak to him Zim, so how is he yours? You two still dating after all and just not showing it at school to protect him?"

"Dating? That hyuman affection thing were you are making with the kissy faces and the hand holding? Zim is not like THAT with the Dib. He is my own personal enemy. No one is to harm him but Zim!"

While Zim was busy distracting Lug, Dib quickly finished dressing and left to join the rest of the class that was already waiting to start. Those that were left let him pass, instead watching to see if there would be a fight between the crazy green kid and the school's biggest tormenter. Keef joined him and the two lined up along the side, waiting for their teacher to arrive so that the day could end quicker. Zim and Skoodge exited a few minutes later, followed by Lug who sported a black eye.

When the coach arrived he announced that they were to do warmups before working on a test of their fitness level. Partway through the class Dib began to become very uncomfortable. He caught many students that were watching him as he went through the drills, some were openly staring and it took him some time to realize why. Keef's clothes were much too small on his larger frame so they were hugging every curve and muscle he had tried to hide for so many years now. Each time he would stretch the shirt would raise enough for a good sized strip of his stomach to be exposed. By the time class was over he was extremely self-conscious, some of the girls had even come up to him and asked if he would be their partner for the drills. That was, until Zim became extremely enraged for some reason and told the "hussies" to back off and declared himself as dib's sparring partner, though there was no sparring to be done, just watch and be the other's spotter with the weights and running. With Zim as his partner, Dib found himself pushing his body further than he normally would. The alien's taunts on how weak he was not letting up and inspiring him to push his limits. By the end of class, he had several of the students looking at him differently than they used to and the coach was angry with him for having half-assed the classes this whole time. Dib left once the bell rang, grabbing his backpack and leaving straight for home, not waiting on his friends to catch up with him.

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	3. Science, Law, and Makeup

**Chapter 2: Science, Law, and Makeup**

Once Dib arrived at home he flopped down face first onto the couch and lay there, not caring what to remove his coat or boots. Today had been a strange day and his poor brain did not know how to process the events from the last class. The bullying had been normal enough, but the attention from the other students, and that of a certain green menace, had been quite unexpected. Zim seemed distracted during his taunts to the young human while several people had actually tried to engage him in conversation instead of just ignoring him. The normal looks he got from people was replaced with more scrutinizing ones, like they were trying to figure him out. Had he known that just wearing Keef's clothes for the day would cause those reactions then he would have just gone home or sat on the side for the class. Detention was much preferable over getting further attention from his classmates.

Not even two hours went by before his thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. Knowing of only a few people who would come to his home, Dib called out a password to his security system, allowing whoever was at the door to come in. He was too lazy to move from where he had landed when he arrived and did not bother to get up when he heard the front door open and two sets of familiar footsteps entered his home.

"Hey buddy! We picked up our costumes before coming over so that you didn't have to go out! I know you will just love it. We picked out the three Greek gods: Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. I am Zeus, Skoodge is going as Poseidon, and you get to be Hades. Hades is perfect for you! Quick, try it on so that we can see how it fits!"

Keef grabbed Dib's arm and pulled him up from the couch, up the stairs, and pushed him into his room with a bag that he had brought along. The door slammed closed as he stumbled towards the bed with Keef's last push, the bag falling onto his rumpled sheets. Hearing the smaller boys footsteps quickly retrace their way downstairs to where Skoodge still waited, Dib looked at the bag quizzically, wondering what kind of costume he was about to be subjected to. Opening the bag he saw a pile of black and purple cloth, bits of silver metal, and a few other items all in either black, silver, or purple. He quickly pulled out the cloth and held up the two pieces of cloth; there was a black tunic looking thing that went over one shoulder and left the other one bared. A dark purple strip of cloth tied around his waist and a matching cape with a black Greek key design along the hem. There was a matching pattern in purple along the bottom of the main piece. Dib looked to the rest of the contents of the bag and decided to get Keef to help him with putting them on. Aside from the sandals, there was just too many different things and he was not used to wearing accessories.

Stepping out of his room, he went to find the other two and see if they had finished with their own costumes yet. The two smaller boys turned out to be in the spare room that they shared and were both finished with the main part of their costumes. Keef was kneeling down in front of Skoodge and had a small paint brush in hand. As Dib stepped closer for a better look, he saw that Keef had painted scales over Skoodge's arms, starting at his claws and working up his arms to fade into his skin. Currently, he was working on a similar pattern for Skoodge's legs and feet. It was strange seeing the irken without his gloves or boots to cover his claws and Dib felt drawn to study them more. The paint job was really well done, Keef had used the paint to make it look like the claws were part of the costume itself and not a part of his body. The painted scales looked almost real as well and Dib was extremely impressed with the details for them.

"You should be a makeup artist Keef, those almost look real. How did you paint every one of them while I was changing? I don't think I was gone that long."

Keef reached out to grab a pile of cloth that was sitting next to Skoodge's feet and tossed it towards Dib. The paler teen caught the item and turned it over in his hands to inspect it, surprised to see that is was a cut up pair of fishnets.

"I used those to create the pattern against his skin by dabbing some paint over them to make the scale effect. Now I am just blending everything together and highlighting the parts closer to his hands and feet to make them stand out more." The redhead did not bother to look up as he continued with his work, "I made the colours fade to black the closer it got to his claws so that he would not have to wear the gloves and boots and wreck the costume. What do you think?"

"I think you should do this more often, it is really good. If I did not know better then I would have thought that they were part of the costume too."

Skoodge beamed down at Keef as the smaller human blushed. Dib did not give out sincere praises very often and it made the boy very happy to receive them. In truth, he really did want to continue with makeup as a career but had not known what his friends would think of his choice so had not mentioned it to them yet. That they were both so accepting of his hobby and encouraged it had him scoffing to himself for ever doubting them and their friendship. Each of them had their own quirks and they were all accepting of each other.

"Thanks guys, that means a lot to me. I want to try and get into a good cosmetics class after we graduate. I already have the forms filled out for next semester to take the class here but did not know what to say to you guys."

"Glad you figured out what you want to do Keef," Dib replied to the other while he watched him finish the last few touches on Skoodge's makeup. "I have not decided yet what to do. I may take after Membrane after all and just go into science or medicine. Maybe even both. If I use my knowledge of alien technology and apply it to my own inventions then maybe I can create something that will have me travelling the stars. Paranormal Investigation is nice and all but it is not something I can see myself making a living out of anymore. I have enough paranormal in my life as it is that I do not need to go looking for any more."

"I think I may go into law enforcement of some sort while on this planet," Skoodge decided to convey his thoughts now that they were discussing their futures. "Even though I am smaller than most humans, my strength and training can't be equaled to those of your planet. While here, I want to make a good life and try to make up for what I have done in the past." After the humans had gotten to know him a bit better he had told them a bit of his past, including having been the first to destroy a race in Operation Impending Doom 2. Though the planet he was sent to was populated with a purely murdering species, he still felt bad for what he had done to them. A small minority of the population had been spared and were now used as a form of entertainment for the irken elite, kind of like the ancient human Spartans.

Skoodge looked over the redhead's handiwork now that he could move and agreed with Dib, the other human had a talent at this makeup. He flexed his claws while looking at his arms and then his talons as he regarded his feet. It was strange to feel the air against his skin after having it covered up for so long. He, like other irkens, was never without his uniform, even in front of other species. It had taken Keef most of the day to convince him to remove his gloves and, while the boy had been working on the paint job, he had caught the other pausing to trace along the claws. At first the alien was a bit uncomfortable that the boy did not like what he saw but after watching him a bit, and some reassurance, he realized that the boy enjoyed the difference from his own hands.

Looking up, he saw that Dib was watching as he was flexing his hands and feet and figured that the boy was curious about the alien anatomy. He had probably never seen any of the irkens without any of their uniforms or holograms on and his natural curiosity would be eating away at him now that he was able to get a better look. He raised his hand in the paranormal investigators direction and silently gave permission to the boy to take a better look at their differences. Dib eagerly came forward and took Skoodge's hand in his own, turning it about to see the muscle and bone structure before focusing on the claws. Most of the irken's hand was the same pale mint green colour as the rest of his visible skin but it darkened to more of a forest green at the claws. Keef's paintjob had helped to emphasize the colour change. The fingers were longer than a humans and thicker as well with more muscle mass to make up for their advanced strength. For the claws, the irkens skin hardened the closer it got to the tip after the last joint until the last half was as solid as steel. Dib knew first hand just how sharp an irken's claws were from the many fights between himself and his childhood rival. Zim had occasionally lost his temper and lashed out at nearby walls and the street and carved several grooves in the cement or metal.

Dib knelt before the irken and placed one of the clawed feet upon his bent knee so that he could get a better look at that as well. The colouring was similar to Skoodge's hands, with the lighter green fading into the darker shade, but while the hands had three fingers, his feet only had two toes. The toes were much thicker than the fingers but not as long. Dib figured this to be so that the alien had more balance. The foot itself was narrow like a human's. When Skoodge set his foot back on the floor, the human noted that the alien stood more on the balls of his feet and toes than distributing the weight out like humans. When asked, Skoodge explained that their species had evolved from prey beasts and had developed that way so that they could run faster. It also helped them with climbing the cave walls that they came from and their eyes were large so that they could see better in the dark and who was hunting them. All of the irken that left the caves had their eyes replaced with artificial ones so that they could see in the daylight as well, otherwise they would be blinded by the light. He demonstrated this by removing his left one slightly, a thin cable could be seen attached to the back of the eye and connecting to somewhere inside the skull. At Keef's disturbed look and sudden raising of his hand to trace around one of his own eyes, the alien quickly replaced the ocular implant as to not bring up more bad memories for his friend.

Dib was slightly upset that he did not get a better chance to observe the implant a bit more but had caught the movement from Keef out of the corner of his eye. He decided to continue the conversation with Skoodge at a later time, if the alien would be willing to talk more that was. Deciding to change the conversation, he asked Keef to help him with the rest of his costume as well. The redhead continued to lightly touch just below his eye for a few moments before Dib got up and wrapped the boy in his arms from behind and lean his head down upon the others shoulder until Keef was able to calm his mind. Skoodge, having studied humans to some length, realized that Dib was comforting their friend so he stepped back a moment to allow the taller human to soothe the other, knowing that his presence would probably not help with the ginger's state of mind.

The alien turned so that the humans could not see the emotions playing out on his face. He was upset that his friend was disturbed by something of him. He was angry with Zim for having done such a thing to a human smeet, though he could not truly fault the ex-invader as he had thought it was part of protecting his mission. Irkens had done much worse to other species for less reason and replacement of eyes was a common thing on their planet anyway. There was also another emotion that he did not recognize. It reminded him of when the Tallers would be praised even though they never did any work or when they would receive the best treats while he and the other Smallers would be given scraps. This emotion was known as jealousy, but why would he be feeling this way? He wanted to comfort their younger friend as well, no, instead of Dib. But he knew that he would only cause more problems in this moment if he did.

After a few minutes, Keef sighed and pushed Dib away so that he could smile up at the older boy. Dib was not very good when it came to people but at least he tried and his heart was, almost always, in the right place. It was the reason that Keef was able to heal from his past and slowly get his life back together. He let his natural exuberance take over again and pushed Dib back onto one of the beds. Di, caught off guard, fell back and watched wide eyed as Keef climbed above him and straddled his thighs. Realizing the position they were now in, the prone boy turned red and tried to stutter out a protest. His embarrassment only increased when he realized that they were not alone and Skoodge was watching them from a few steps away with interest.

"Alright Dib, no more procrastinating buddy. Time to get you all ready for this party too! Once I am done, you won't even recognize yourself. Just you wait and see!"

With that, Keef reached over to the nightstand between the two beds where he had placed the pallet of makeup and scanned over the colours until he found the shades that he was looking for. He then instructed Dib to skootch back along the bed so that he was sitting with his back against the wall, with Keef still stubbornly planted in his lap. Realizing that he forgot something, the ginger called for Skoodge to grab the bottle that was still in the bag on the opposite bed. The alien retrieved it and climbed on top of the bed to sit cross-legged next to his friends, facing them so that he could watch Keef and inwardly snigger at the sight of such a distraught Dib. He sort of understood why Dib was acting so strange, they had studied health class after all and he had researched into it further. Though, to see the normally passive and mature, except when dealing with Zim, human act like other males of his age Skoodge had interacted with reminded the irken yet again just how young his companions still were.

He became quite curious of Dib's reactions as Keef moved around above him and even noticed that Keef, even though he was focused on his work, was not unaffected like he was trying to appear to be. Dib had his eyes closed but was biting the inside of his lip, trying not to scrunch up his face and ruin the work Keef had done. The hand on the other side from Skoodge was placed on Keef's leg since they were sitting next to the wall and the other was on the mattress in front of Skoodge's knee. Each time Keef shifted, the hand next to Skoodge would clench the sheets and he could see the fingers of the other move lightly along the thigh. Keef, even though he kept his concentration on his work, became flushed and was biting his lip as he scanned over Dib. When Dib's fingers brushed over him, his body would tense slightly and he would shift more, creating a cycle between the two. This was not the first time he had seen the two like this and wanted to know more about why their bodies were acting in such a manner. It was interesting to study up on it, apparently irkens used to be similar, and seeing it in person was much better than his videos and holoscreens. They never went much further than this, except to kiss while drunk, and Skoodge was wanting to see what it could progress to. Lately, he was beginning to feel that jealousy emotion as he watched them and began thinking that he wished he could have his energetic friend make those faces for him as he was doing for Dib.

Keef finished his work and climbed off of Dib to fetch the rest if Dib's costume that was sitting on the floor where Dib had dropped it when he went to inspect Skoodge's feet. Thinking of their alien friend, he became embarrassed for what he had just done in front of him with Dib. He glanced at the seated irken as he got up and saw intense red eyes watching him back as well. He flushed once again, unsure of why the alien watching him always made him feel heady, and proceeded to help Dib with the last of his costume. There was a silver and black armband that went just above Dib's bicep and ended up accentuating it even more and two black leather wristbands that went halfway up his forearms. The main piece was black crown that spiked up from the front of his head and curled to aim back like horns. The five spikes were spaced between seven miniature lifelike skulls that had dark purple gems clenched between each of their teeth. Before putting the crown on Dib's head, he removed the black hair from the ponytail the other had taken to wearing and styled the shoulder length hair so that it framed Dib's face. Without the confines of the ponytail, his scythelock sprang up, though not as bad as it used to since the length kept it weighted down more. After a few attempts to control it, Keef gave up and instead was able to get the lock to angle forwards so that it hung in front of one of Dib's eyes.

The boy stepped back to admire his handiwork and back passed Dib a small case before stepping out of the way. Dib opened the little box and sighed, glancing up bemusedly at the excited boy across from him. He hated contacts. After trying them several times, he finally understood why Zim always complained about them. They itched to hell and back so he gave up on trying to wear them and tuck with his glasses instead.

"Try them on. I asked Skoodge to make these ones 'specially for you. He used the data Zim has on your body to create pair that should fit your eyes perfectly. If you like them, he can make you a few other pairs as well so you won't have to worry about your glasses getting broken any more. Each one should adjust to your eye and stay in place perfectly until you decide to take it off."

From his spot on the bed still, the green alien nodded to confirm what the other had said. These were adapted from the ones he had been working on for the other irkens to fit human eyes but they should work the same way. The only difference being that these would also help correct the human's vision instead of just changing the colour when wanted.

Dib was touched by the gift that his friends had made for him and decided to give the contacts a try at least. Hearing Zim had that detailed of information only bothered him slightly, after all the years and experiments the menace had done on him, he was not surprised. His own notes on the other were probably almost as detailed as well. Noticing that the contacts were held in spots labeled left and right, he figured they were specifically created for each eye. Taking off his glasses, he fumbled to put them in without the use of a mirror. Once he was finished putting the second one in, he looked over towards his friends to see what they thought. They felt alright but were actually a bit blurrier than his glasses so did not think he would wear them too often. As he was about to voice his thanks for the gift, Dib was startled to feel slight movement along his eyeballs. Blinking a few times, he reached up to remove the contacts but paused just before taking the first one out and scanned the room in front of him. The contacts had adjusted themselves to his eyes perfectly and now he was able to see even better than when he was wearing his glasses. It was a bit disconcerting how everything was in such clear focus, he was even able to make out the light texture on the walls if he focused on it enough.

"Thanks guys, these are amazing. Might take a bit of getting used to though."

"They are modeled after our newest implants Dib, all the smeets who can't get the implants are being fitted with these. You can actually adjust them so that they zoom in on things by 3X, they work like sunglasses, have limited night vision, and you have them change colours too. These are not as advanced as the full implant would be so you can't do as much. Now that you have them in, they have connected to your brain using cables and you won't need your glasses again. All you have to do is focus on what you want them to do."

Dib was not fond of the idea that the contacts were now a part of his eyes thanks to the wires but, as he thought about it, he should not be surprised. Irkens were basically half machine themselves and always doing things to upgrade their own bodies after all. His scientific mind took over while listening to the perks that Skoodge listed off and he could not wait to test them out.

"How do I make them work?"

"Start with trying to change the colour," Skoodge said while searching the bags for the mirror he had seen Keef pack earlier. "Think about what your eyes look like now and then the colour that you want them to be."

Dib thought of his bright golden eyes, ones that only he and his sister had, and then tried to think of a different colour to change them too. The dark purple of the gems in his crown came to mind as he was looking down at his costume. He tried envisioning himself with eyes that were similar in colour, focusing on as much detail he could to try and make it work. A mirror was handed to him a moment later and Skoodge nodded in approval once Dib looked up at him. Raising the mirror so that he could see the results, Dib gaped at the reflection staring back at him. He did not recognize the face in the mirror at all!

"It will get easier with practice. The same with your new zoom ability and for the other things. They will automatically adjust to reduce strain on your eyes depending on the lighting though."

Dib just nodded, hardly registering what the irken had told him, and continued to study his reflection. Keef had not gone too heavy on the makeup but what he had used had still made a huge difference. He had lined his eyes in black with the bottom filling in his lower lids. He had added some smokey grey to his upper lids that went up to his eyebrows and came to a point near from the corner of his eye to the edge of his eyebrow. A bit more of the darker grey was smudged below his lower lid to make his eyes look like they were shadowed. There was some more makeup making his cheekbones stand out a bit more and making him look slightly older and matured. His lips were lightly coloured and had a gloss on them to make them look slightly wet. With the lack of glasses and dark violet eyes staring back at him, he did not recognize the person looking back at him in the mirror at all. As he reached up to touch his face, a hand shot out and smacked his out of the way. He quickly closed his eyes as Keef instructed him to and something was sprayed on his face.

"Don't touch buddy, you will wreck all my hard work. The setting spray will help it stay so that I don't have to do touch ups on you all night. Just remember not to touch it or you will smear everything."

Dib opened his eyes once again as Keef chastised him and saw that the other had finished with his own costume while Dib was busy with the mirror. He had donned a white toga with gold decorations and had gold bands on his wrists and around his neck. On his head was a gold crown that looked like it was made out of leaves from ancient Greece. He had not done as much for makeup on himself as he had for Dib and Skoodge though, just light gold powder to give himself a bit more of a glowing tan look and some light blonde colouring to his hair that mixed rather well with his rust shade. To finish off their looks, Keef placed a black necklace around Dib's neck. The chain was thicker than normal and made in a Greek key shape going all the way to the back. It was short, with the center coming to just a few inches below his Adam's apple and had a strange symbol of a cross shape with curved horns at the top and a circle between them in the center of the necklace. Keef placed another matching black necklace on Skoodge as well that had a symbol that looked like the top of a trident. Looking closer at the one Keef was wearing, the symbol on the front of his was that of a lightning bolt. After being handed a pair of black gladiator style sandals, failing miserably to tie them up properly and having Keef do it for him once he was done tying his own, Keef proclaimed that they were now good to go and handed each of them staffs with the tops that resembled the symbols on their necklaces. Before Dib had chance to look over his staff, Keef had them ushered out to Dib's car and was babbling on about needing to quickly grab food and some drinks before the party started.

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	4. Unforeseen Attention

**Chapter 3: Unforeseen Attention**

They arrived at the address on the posters that their classmate had hung around the school an hour later. It was only 9PM by then but there was several other vehicles already parked outside and the music could be heard booming from the house. It was slightly out of town on an acreage so there was lots of room for their peers to meet up and party. From the flyers, everyone was allowed to stay the night if they had been drinking and they just need to bring blankets and a tent. The party was to last the whole weekend since the parents would not be home until Sunday evening. Those who stayed just had to help clean up and nothing was to be damaged. The parents knew that there was going to be a party and had allowed it, just so long as their home was not destroyed while they were on vacation. The three boys had only planned on staying the one night and, if possible and were not too drunk, head back to Dib's instead of staying the night. It would not be a good idea to chance someone stumbling into their tent and finding Skoodge without his disguise on. Though, after all these years, they probably could just claim it as a skin condition like Zim does and that Skoodge just covers his up since he is self-conscience about it. Their classmates were basically conditioned to it after all this time and not too bright to begin with.

Keef decided to send Dib ahead to find a spot for their tent and announce that they had arrived while he unpacked the car of their drinks and explain to Skoodge what the party was about. This would be the first big party that the alien had attended, second one for Dib, and Keef just wanted to give the alien a bit of a heads up on what might happen and what to expect with a hi-skool party. Dib wandered up the sidewalk and took a deep breath, steadying his nerves before having to deal with people from his skool. He would much rather be at home handing out candy and watching movies with his friends instead of here and dealing with the idiots that he saw five days a week already. Hopefully no one would recognize him in this costume and he could just get through the night in peace then go back home to his peace and quiet. He took another deep breath, looked over his shoulder to see what was taking the other two, and knocked on the door. After another moment of waiting, there was no answer so he knocked loudly to be heard over the music inside. At that, he could hear someone from within the house calling out for someone to get the door. In the next moment he was eye to eye with one of Lug's followers who was eyeing him up with no recognition before letting him through.

The boy turned away and led him into the house. Dib let out another heavy sigh in relief since the lackey had not recognized him at all. He followed the other boy further into the house and told that drinks were in the kitchen, music and dancing were outside on the patio, pool and other games were downstairs, and there was a keg in the back yard as well. If he brought a tent, it was first come, first serve on where to put it so he better set it up soon before more people showed up. As Dib listened to the other boy ramble, he started to get a bad idea of just who the house belonged to. His suspicions were confirmed when they got to the living room where a projection screen was playing a some recent bump and grind style music video. His guide stepped forward towards another boy their age that was surrounded by a group of their classmates. He was in the middle of trying to impress several of the scantily clad girls on just how he had ended up with his latest shiner. The boy announced his presence to Lug and the other turned to greet his new guest. When he saw Dib, he paused and studied him.

"Who are you? I think I know you but I can't figure out where I seen you before. You from one of the other schools?"

Just as Dib was about to come up with a story about being one of his fans from a nearby rival school, Keef and Skoodge walked into the room. They had been searching for him and had just come in since no one had answered the door for them. They wanted to know where Dib wanted to set up the tent or if they should just leave it in the car.

"Dib! There you are buddy! We wanted to ask you what the plan...oh…umm….hi there Lug. How is your eye? It looks better than when we saw you at skool."

Dib could only groan and cover his face with his palm. He had really wished he could have made up a story and then tracked down his companions to leave before Lug ever found out that they were there. Now that was out of the question as Lug looked between him and the other two that were standing nervously to the side and watching the rest of the interaction. Recognition dawned on the jocks face as Dib shifted under his gaze and the scar on his shoulder was revealed from underneath the edge of his cloak. The look that Lug gave him as he looked Dib from head to foot was practically devious and Dib shuddered at the odd look. He had not seen that look before and it scared him. This was the first time, aside from in the locker room earlier, that anyone had seen him with so little clothes on and, after scanning the rest of the crowd that had gathered, he felt naked under their collective gaze. It felt like they were all studying him like his father would study one of his experiments.

"Well Dib, did not expect to see you here. Never would have recognized you either if your friends had not come by. You clean up good when not being all emo."

Lug had placed an arm around Dib's shoulders and began to lead him to the back yard as if they were old friends. Keef, Skoodge, and the rest of the people in the room followed behind. Some were expecting to see Dib get beat up as usual while others were just interested in what was going on. No one had expected Dib of all people to come to Lug's house unless he had a death wish. They were all still reeling at how different Dib looked as well. The boy that was being half dragged out the back doors looked nothing at all like the paranormal loving freak that they had all gotten used to over the years. Yes, he was dressed even darker than his usual attire, wearing makeup even, but all of them collectively agreed that the change in his appearance was an improvement.

As Lug got to the back where the keg was set up, everyone that he had passed while going through the house had followed along behind wondering who the boy was that was with him. Some had gone either up or downstairs to tell the people in the other rooms that something was about to happen in the back yard. He stopped with Dib at the edge of the railing overlooking the yard where the rest of people who had arrived were gathered and waited a moment until he had everyone's attention. Dib's eyes shifted about to all the student's watching him. He really really should not have let Keef talk him into this. He saw his friends out of the corner of his eye, looking just as nervous as he was. Down near the trees where people were setting up their tents, he could just make out his sister and Tak near one of the tents. They were watching the proceedings as well. Their presence actually relieved him a bit. He knew that, if anything, his sister would step in before they killed him at least and Tak would help her. Those two were feared even more than Zim since even he had lost a fight to them. Gaz would not stop his regular beatings, he deserved those for not defending himself according to her, but she still cared for him in her way and would not let them go too far.

"Hey guys, look who decided to come out and play! Doesn't our little Dib look all grown up tonight? Let's make sure he has a good time and show him how the grownups party."

With that last comment, he dragged Dib over to the keg and instructed a couple of his cronies to lift Dib up for a keg stand. Even with Dib trying to politely excuse himself from the group, Keef and Skoodge watched on from outside the people who had gathered around as Dib was raised up by two of the bigger guys from the football team and the hose placed in his mouth. Dib had enough time for a final thought on how they at least had the decency to hold his toga in place before another one of the partygoers began to pump cheap beer into his mouth. He was really glad that Keef had once dared him to try drinking upside down otherwise he would have spit the whole thing out after the first couple pumps and made even more of a fool of himself than usual. Lug would not drag him down tonight, he was tired of the bullying so far today. As it was, he had to stop from becoming light headed before actually choking. He gave a few kicks and the two guys holding him set him down, only to hoist him back up onto their shoulders. Dib was greatly confused, until he heard the crowd cheering for him. He must have impressed them with actually being able to do the keg stand.

Dib attempted to take a bow from his perch on the two jocks shoulders but realized too late that he had drank much more than he had thought. The grass suddenly rushed up at him as the jocks lost their grip and he began to fall to the ground. His reflexes from years of fighting with Zim saved him at the last moment as he tucked into a roll that had him coming back up on his feet, though a bit more unsteady than he normally would thanks to the beer playing havoc on his system. He swayed a few times on his feet before steadying himself and, only seeing Keef and Skoodge ahead of him, gave a slight bow to them and allowing a slight grin to show on his face before adjusting his crown haphazardly back on his head.

Keef could only facepalm at Dib's antics and turn to Skoodge for assistance on how to handle the situation. Skoodge just shrugged at the boy, he had no idea how to handle a human interaction as this and, from the smile on Dib's face, their friend seemed to be having fun. Keef watched as Dib was quickly surrounded by their classmates all wanting to clap him on the back and ask him how he learned to drink and move like that. After a moment of watching the gangly teen become even more embarrassed and sending them pleading looks, Keef decided to go rescue him so that he did not feel so alone anymore. He grabs Skoodge's hand and makes his way through the crowd to the now awkward teen, giggling as he watches several people trying to hand Dib drinks even though he already has one in each hand. Gaz watched the scene for a few moments to make sure all was well before turning back to the tent that Tak was in the middle of setting up. The irken could have easily done it on her own with the use of her Pak legs now that everyone was distracted but Gaz would rather she not take the risk.

Unknown to them, Lug watched from the sidelines as Dib was made the center of popular attention for what was probably the first time in his life. Lug sneered at the boy before grabbing a drink out of the hands of one of his cronies, a plan starting to form in his already intoxicated mind. He gestured to his followers and made his way back towards Dib, muscling his way through the crowd and grabbing another drink on the way to the normally introverted boy. He plastered a smile onto his face just before reaching Dib and threw an arm around the other boy's shoulder to put him into a friendly headlock."

"Dib! Man, that was so cool! You're just full of surprises today. First in gym with you showing us that you actually don't suck at sports and have been half-assing it this whole time and now this? You really have to tell me where you learned moves like that."

Dib was caught off guard and had not heard Lug approach until he was suddenly in the other boy's grip. Lug was slightly shorter than him so the hold around his neck had Dib bending over slightly. His body tensed as soon he felt the other boy touching him but was taken off guard when he heard the other speak. Shifting slightly to balance better in his intoxicated state, he realized that Lug did not have as tight a hold on him like usual and he turned his head to look up at the other. The smile that Lug was giving him further threw him off, it did not hold any of the usual malicious intent that was typically focused on him. There was still something off about the look that he was receiving but, at that moment, he just could not bring his mind to focus on it properly.

Adjusting his crown, yet again, he stood back up and accepted the drink the other boy offered him. Dib rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, an embarrassed smile tugging at his lips from all the praise he had been receiving from his classmates. He had only ever received praise from his teachers and his two friends. Not even his father was known to give him praise unless it happened to be on things such as his grades in the sciences, and those always ended in an insult on how he could do even better if focused more instead of playing around with his little friends. Gaz would offhandedly praise him at times in her own way but he was used to that from her and knew that she meant it. Never had he been complimented by his peers before and it was throwing off his sense of normality. Even Zim had complimented him a few times over the years in his own Zim-like way and it did not through him off as much as the attention he was now receiving.

"Been fighting with Zim for years now. You've seen him, he goes all out when he gets mad and doesn't hold back. Been learning different ways to fight since he first came to school. He likes to fight and I have been sparring with him this whole time. With gym, I find it boring and just never felt like joining in, get enough exercise fighting with Zim almost every day. If Coach had us doing more than just weights, laps, or stuff like football and dodgeball then that would be a different story. If we had some martial arts classes or even archery the maybe I would do more."

Several of the other students agreed with him that they needed a bit more variety in their gym class than always doing the same thing year after year. A few of the kids on the track team commented that Dib should join them, that he would make a great addition to the team from what they saw in class earlier that day. One even went so far as to say that they may finally make championships if he joined up with them. Two girls, one the head cheerleader and the other from the gymnastics team, began arguing with each other over which of their groups Dib should join. Keef was of no help, he only snickered as Dib flushed from all the attention and told him to go ahead and have fun visiting while he and Skoodge set up their tent before leading the alien off towards the trees to find a spot for them to set up for the night.

Dib decided to do as his friend said and, for the next few hours, he could be found with different people wanting to talk with him. At one point during the night, Gretchen was even able to gather enough courage and asked Dib to dance with her. Not knowing how to properly refuse her request, he was pressured by the others to join her on the dance floor even though he kept telling them that he had never danced before. No one would listen to his excuses, not even Keef who had had rejoined him on the couch and was waiting on Skoodge to bring them another drink. Keef leaned in to whisper in Dib's ear that if he tried to use some of the moves they were doing together before the party then he would be great at dancing. Dib blushed and tried to return with a comeback but was dragged off to the dance floor before his mind could think of anything to say. As it turned out, dancing was not as hard as he had first thought it would be. After watching the others around him, he slowly began to copy some of the moves the others were doing until he found a rhythm that suited his own movements. By the end of the dance, there was a very flushed Gretchen in his arms and several other girls asking him to dance with them next.

Throughout the whole night, Lug had stayed near Dib to ply him with questions and have drinks brought for him when I saw that Dib had finished his. While Dib was distracted with dancing, he excused himself from the others sitting around with him, saying he wanted to check on the other guests to see if everyone was having fun. While walking away, he called his three closest followers to join him since he needed their help with a few things. On his way back into the house, Skoodge saw the group enter one of the spare rooms that had been marked as off limits being as it was Lug's mother's office. The only other rooms that no one was allowed to enter was his parent's bedroom, his bedroom, and his father's workshop. To be sure that no one wandered into those rooms while drunk, Lug had made sure they were locked. He did not want his folks to take away his party privileges after all. They left the room a short time later and made a quick round of the property, checking up on people to see how everyone was enjoying themselves. Lug went back to his room to grab a bottle of Captain Morgan's that he kept there for himself before returning to the seating area. Dib had also returned from dancing and was sitting next to Keef once again. Noticing that Dib's drink was once again low, Lug offered to share his own drink with the boy and continued to share it with him throughout the night.

Close to 4am, Keef announced that he was tired and that he was heading to their tent. Dib said that he would help him back but Lug told him to stay longer since he did not seem tired and he still wanted to chat. Skoodge decided to assist their friend back to the tent, he had not had much to drink as most human alcohol did not sit well with him. His body did not like all the chemicals that humans put into their food and drinks. He had finished the few irken drinks they had brought earlier and spent the last few hours making sure that Keef and Dib did not get into too much trouble.

"Niiiiiiight Dib! See ya in the morning! Told you this would be a good night didn't I?"

Skoodge just shook his head at their drunk friend and waved goodnight to Dib as he mostly carried the redhead through the house and out to their tent. Once they were gone, Dib realized that it was just himself as well as Lug and his cohorts that were left in the room. It seemed as if everyone else had gone to bed at some point. He became rather nervous suddenly, these were the people who had tormented him for several years after all, but his inebriated mind soon pushed that thought aside as Lug offered him yet another drink. In his current state, he only recognized them as the people he had been talking with all night and who had shared their drinks with him and made him feel welcome for the first time in years.

"Hey Dib, you like building things hey? Want to go see my dad's workshop? Might not be as cool as your dad's lab though."

"Sure Lug, that would be really cool. Think we can check it out in the morning? I'm pretty tired and think I should get to bed too."

"Nah Dib, we gotta do it tonight. Don't want anyone else in there since they might break stuff and if we wait until later them everyone will be up and want to come too. Won't take too long, we want to catch some zees too before everyone wakes up."

Lug wrapped his arm around Dib's shoulder and guided him out of the house and to the back where the workshop was situated, his three constant shadows following behind. It was off to the side of the yard away from the house and where most of the people had set up their tents. A driveway led from the front of the house to the garage style doors. There was a path that led from the patio to the side door and Lug explained that his dad had built it away from the house so that all the noise would not disturb his mom while she was working. He unlocked the door and stepped in to turn on the light, Dib followed right after since he was curious to see what kind of work his classmate's father did. He had heard that his dad did woodwork before but had never really cared too much to pay attention to the lives of his classmates, having focused so much of his own life on Zim and Zim alone. Now that Zim was no longer considered a threat, maybe he should get to know the others more.

The workshop felt crowded and cramped with all of the machines and tools in such a small space yet very organized. Unlike his father's labs, the whole place was made of wood and earthy tones instead of bright glaring white. Most of the shop was filled with different larger machines that Dib figured was for cutting and sanding. The wall next to the door was covered in racks where some of the smaller tools were hanging and shelves that held bins full of different smaller pieces such as nails, screws, and bolts of varying sizes. Each of the bins were labeled and in what Dib assumed to be some kind of order. To the right was the garage doors that took up nearly the whole side. Near the front of those doors was what Dib assumed to be a custom bench that Lug's father was working on. Along the opposite wall was piles of different kinds of wood from planks to full tree trunks piled up. Wandering around, Dib found another door at the back of the shop with a work bench that ran the length of the wall next to it. Above the work bench was a blueprint pinned to a corkboard of the bench that was currently being worked on. Dib's mind faintly registered the sound of a door closing but he was too busy admiring the blueprints in front of him. He looked over as Lug stood next to him and opened the door beside the workbench to reveal a darkened room with an office desk with an office chair seated behind it, two more plush chairs in front of the desk, and several shelves and cabinets lining the walls. There was one window along the right side facing away from the house and towards the forested area surrounding the property.

"Pretty cool hey? My dad has his office in here where he plans out all his projects and clients come in to go over their ideas for what they want made. Most of the stuff in our house was made by him too. Come check out some of the other ones he's done. He told me he's drawing out something for the Membrane Labs waiting area next. I don't get any of it by watching him work is really cool."

Lug gestured for Dib to step into the room so that he could have a better look at the different blueprints that were pinned on the wall next to the door and laid out on the desk. There was a small stack of papers on the desk and, as Dib stepped closer, he took a better look at the top paper and found it to be a basic quick sketch of a coffee table with not much detail to it yet. He faintly remembered his father mentioning that they were renovating the labs but, as with most things his dad spoke to him about, he tuned out most of it. After years of being called crazy and neglected unless he happened to do something his father approved of, Dib had decided that he did not need to listen to his father if his father would not listen to him. After finding out that he was actually one of his father's experiments and a clone of the scientist himself had not helped their relationship much either. Dib respected his parental unit, he was a brilliant scientist after all, but they could never seem to see eye to eye on things or handle being in the same room as each other for long unless there was a project they could work on together. The fact that his father was never around and he and Gaz had had to fend for themselves from a young age as well did not help the relationship between him and his children either.

As Dib reached out to pick up the top sheet, he was suddenly shoved forwards and landed on the desk, barely catching himself but still had his head crack into the desktop enough stun him slightly.

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	5. Dark Intentions

This chapter contains bullying, both physical as well as verbal. There is some homophobic content as well. These events are partially based off previous personal experiences. Sorry for the rambly bits. The Dib in this story tends to get lost in his thoughts at the worst times like I do.

 **Chapter 4: Dark Intentions**

Dib's head was throbbing for the knock it got against the desk he had landed on. His vision was swirling and all of the alcohol running through his system was not helping to ease the dizziness. What had just happened? Such a simple shove would normally have never thrown him off this bad. He should never have let himself drink so much earlier, he knew he should not have but all the positive attention he had been receiving had distracted him and he did not know how to handle it. Saying no when someone had offered him a drink had seemed rude so he had mostly paced himself but had still long ago lost track of how many drinks he had been given. Lug had even been giving him straight shots of booze from his own bottle and he did not wish to anger the other in his own home by turning down such a generous offer. As he turned his unfocused vision to the other four coming into the room behind him he seriously wished he had slowed his drinking even further or said no and left long ago.

The door was closed and Dib could hear a faint click as the lock was turned, sealing him in with his tormentors. How had he ever let himself be fooled into thinking that maybe things would change, that they would change and treat him differently? He had allowed the attention and booze to distract him from the last few years of torture that these exact classmates had put him through. Just several hours earlier in class the one had been ready to pummel him in the locker room if the irkens had not interfered. Was he that hard up for acceptance by anyone that he would allow a few hours of being the center of positive attention to make him forget the last several years? Looking at the dark smirk on Lug's face as he came close enough to hover over him, Dib had to admit that he must be crazy after all. What else would explain how he had allowed Lug to completely deceive him into thinking things would be different from now on?

"Can't believe you fell for all that Dib. Did you really think after all of these years we would suddenly be your friend? You really must be crazy. Just because you changed how you look and are actually good in sports does not mean you are not a loser. You will always be a crazy loser freak to us no matter how much you try to change."

As Dib went to roll over and sit up so that Lug was not towering over him, two of the hulking beasts stepped to either side of the desk and pressed his shoulders back down against it and held him there. After years of similar treatment, Dib knew better than to try and fight back. His beating would just be that much more severe if he tried to get away. He adjusted himself against the desk so that the edge was no longer digging into his side and watched as Lug picked up the papers from the desk and placed them on a nearby shelf while moving around to sit in the office chair. This put his face slightly above Dib's so the thinner teen did not have to crane his neck so far back to look at his tormentor anymore. The last member of their gang moved the two guest chairs to the corners of the room so that it was not so crowded and sat in one until he received further instructions from their leader. Lug leaned back in the chair, that dark smirk showing even more clearly on his face now that Dib was so close.

"Lug, if this is about me being here, I swear we never knew that this was your place. Keef just saw the handouts for the party and decided we should do something. I promise, first thing in the morning, once one of us are sober, we will pack up to leave and not bother you again. If you want, I can call a cab and see if they will come out to get us and I can wake the others up and pack so we can leave as soon as the cab gets out here. Gaz or Tak can take my car home tomorrow so that you won't have to see us anymore."

"Now Dib, why do you think I would want you to leave so soon? We are just starting to get to know each other better after all. Thought you were such a great pal Dib. Turns out you have been hiding a lot from me all these years though. Have to say, I am pretty disappointed in you for keeping secrets from me."

Dib was thrown off listening to Lug speak. Friends? Them? That is not how friends treated each other at all, not that Dib had much to go off of until recently but still. If that was Lug's idea of friendship then he wanted none of it ever again. Even in his current lack of sobriety he could tell that Lug was mocking him for something but for the life of him he could not fathom why this time. He had done his best to keep his host happy after arriving and had truly thought that Lug was starting to think differently of him finally. That they could maybe, if not be friends, then have the taunts and beatings come to an end.

"Umm, sorry Lug…I did not think you wanted to bother with anything about me. Uh, if you want me to answer or do anything for you, just say so. My life is pretty boring though, just the old fighting with Zim I used to do and hanging out with Keef and Skoodge to play games and have a few drinks now and then. I barely talk to Zim now except in the classes we have together so that can be scratched off though. Sometimes dad has me working in the labs with him though. Umm, that is about it now, you know everything else about me."

He knew he was rambling. Even when sober it has always been a bad habit of his to let his mouth get ahead of his brain. It had gotten him more than a few of his previous beatings with this same group, not to mention a couple others and a certain green alien. He never was one to think things through before saying them most times. He swore, if sober Dib remembered this in the morning, he was going to work even harder at not getting himself stuck in more situations like his current one. Hopefully Lug would not lay into him too bad this time since they were in his father's office and blood was pretty hard to clean up.

"Dib Dib Dib. Did you think that was all that this is about? Oh no, this is about how you have been humiliating me all day. First in the locker room, having your short boyfriend come save you and giving me a black eye. My eye still hurts from that by the way. Next was in class while, you have been keeping secrets from us for quite a while. I was really not happy that you were better than me with all of our track work today. You could have been a real help if you had joined the football team instead of being such a freak and stalking your boyfriend for all these years. Then, to top it all off, you show up at my house as well. Being a total show off and getting all of my guests to pay attention to you. What did you think would happen Dib? I would let you into my house like we were the best of buddies? This black eye alone would need some kind of compensation. What do you think would be a good payment for all this trouble you put me through today?"

Well shit. Guess he was not getting out of a beating at the least. Hopefully they still would not go too hard on him since he still had to get all of their things packed and get home. Not to mention, if he got beat too badly this time, a good chunk of their grade and a few others were all there and not all of them took too kindly to bullies. It was one reason Lug left anywhere that could be visible like his arms and face alone. He needed to stay on the school's good side if he wanted to stay on the football team. He was their star player but the school had a very low tolerance towards bullying after all. There was word that several universities were also scooting the school and had their eye on him as well. With his parent's status and possible scholarships to some good universities, he did not want to chance losing face and having his good life taken from him.

"What can I do to pay you back? What are you wanting from me? If you want I can do your science assignments that are almost due. I promise to make them so that you have a decent passing grade but not too high that they get suspicious of you again. First thing in the morning when I get home I can start on them for you."

His captor leaned back in the chair and looking thoughtfully up at the ceiling. He seemed to think about it for a moment before shaking his head and looking back down at Dib. A cruel smile playing at his lips as he made eye contact once again with the prone boy.

"Nope, not good enough. That's not enough to make up for everything today. A good beating should put you back in your place, and after that you get the hell off of my property as fast as you can without waking my guests. Once you get home you can get started on my homework and, depending on if it is done by Monday or not, maybe I will forgive you and let you off without needing to teach you another lesson. At least this time your psycho boyfriend is not here to save your ass again."

"Fuck you. How many times do I have to say it before it gets through that thick head of yours? He is not my god damned boyfriend!"

Yup, there went that mouth of his again. As he watched, his classmate's face went from the superior smirk to an outright furious scowl. He realized too late that he should have just kept quiet as a fist shot forward. Unable to move, he turned his head away as quickly as he could and was struck in the temple. The blow whipped his head further back and Dib was nearly knocked out from the force behind it. His body was frozen for a moment after bowing back slightly before the pain registered and his body slumped forward on the desk again. It had been years since he had taken a blow with this much power behind it and he had almost forgotten just how much it hurt. Lug had never hit him in the head before, well not after the first time a few years back when a teacher had seen Dib return to class with a black eye and a busted lip. Zim had been absent from school that day due to settling Skoodge into his home so their teacher knew that it had not been the two friends, as everyone called the boys, roughhousing like they used to. That had brought on a lecture about bullying since Dib would not say who did it and the teacher asked that if any student saw it happen again, they were to report it to the nearest teacher. No one would turn Lug in anyway but, just in case, after that all the bruises were left on Dib's torso and legs. Anywhere a t-shirt and shorts would cover.

Dib tried to curl in on himself and protect his head from more blows but the two lackeys would not let him up from the desk. They held him against it as their leader lay a few more hits to his head and one between his shoulder blades before sitting back in his chair again to watch as Dib tried to recover his breath. Once it looked as though he was could focus on him again, Lug reached forward and grabbed Dib by the chin to hold his head up so that he could look him in the eyes again. There was signs that Dib would have a black eye on his left side and his lip was bleeding from a cut after he bit down on it to keep from crying out. If he had been wearing his glasses, he was pretty sure they would have been broken as well.

"Now why did you have to go and make me do that? This could have gone a lot easier for you if you had only kept quiet. Now you're gonna have to come up with a reason for these bruises and cuts. You should just say that you and that green freak were being rougher than usual. Sounds like something you two would do. No one would be surprised to hear that you like it rough."

A thumb brushed roughly over Dib's cut lip when it was mentioned and he had to restrain himself from biting down on the offending digit. Though, as Lug finished speaking to him and returning his finger to keep hold on his chin, he wished he had bit him after all. Why were they always saying the he and the crazy alien were a couple? Yeah he could admit that, as kids, he had quite a bit of an obsession with the menace and was always seen stalking him or talking about him. He had long grown out of that phase after the first couple years once he realized just how incompetent the alien really was. Zim was amazing when it came to creating things but none of his inventions worked out due to GIR getting in the way or Zim himself being unable to complete the project properly. Dib had seen several of Zim's plans over the years that could have easily worked but the alien had stated were not good enough. One was of a quick spreading virus that used mosquitos and ticks to transfer it to humans. Once a human was infected they could also spread it and it went almost completely undetectable until Zim felt like activating it using satellites. The virus only affected humans and worked as a mind control. Dib had watched as Zim used one of his hobo test subjects to spend the day playing with GIR and learning to cook meals that the alien could eat. The first thing he had the hobo do was take a bath and clean himself up though so that more germs were not dragged through his house. The alien had eventually released his hold on the guy, deeming him to be too boring, and from what cam footage he got, the guy was still living at the base but was now more like a servant than a slave. He knew Zim was an alien but did not care since he got a roof over his head, three meals a day, and Zim had even told Computer to construct a room for him to stay in. Dib had to admit, the guy was now living a much better life than before.

A sharp slap brought him back to the present situation. Fuck, he really needed to focus and not get distracted with thoughts of Zim and his strange behaviour over the last couple years. Thinking of the alien at a time like this was probably not the best idea. Even when not around, Zim always seemed to get him into trouble for one reason or another even after all these years.

"Pay attention Dib. It's rude to ignore people when they are talking to you. You really like making things hard on yourself, don't you? I'll have to punish you for that too now. What do you think I should add on? Seems like a beating and my assignments is not enough."

"Maybe try letting me go this time and it will have better results?"

"Nice try, but not gonna happen. You need to be put back in your place and quit trying to act like you are better than what you are. Everyone knows you are a loser, freak, and a homo. Quit trying to be what you are not. You have always been that and always will be. No matter how hard you try, you will never be up to my level. You are nothing Dib, and you always will be. Only thing you have is your dad's money and fame. I'm surprised he has not just left you in The Crazy House For Boys yet. That way he would not have to deal with all your craziness anymore. I would have. It is the only place you actually belong. No one wants you around, everyone was just being nice to you since they feel bad for you and I had introduced you to the group. Hope you enjoyed your one day in the spotlight since Monday will be back to normal. You will go back to being the loser you really are. Generally ignored and looked down on by the rest of us. Maybe, one day, you will get it through that ginormous head of yours that nobody wants you and just lock yourself away. Your sister barely tolerates you. Your dad is never home to be around you. Your classmates can barely stand your presence. Everyone you've ever met finds you annoying. Heck, the only friends you have been able to make were ones that even that green freak rejected. They probably only stay around you because of your dad's money and to make themselves feel better. Get a clue for once Dib. You're worthless, an embarrassment to society and nobody wants you around."

If words could make someone bleed, then these would have left very deep cuts. Dib had already thought these things for most of his life and having someone say them aloud to him only made him feel like they were true. Finding out he was one of his father's science experiments did not help his self-image either. He saw himself as a failed experiment and a disappointment to Professor Membrane. Yes, he looked exactly like his creator, was just as intelligent, and they both became obsessed with things they were passionate about but that was where the similarities ended. He felt like it was his fault his father was never home. Once Dib had started voicing his love of paranormal and Membrane could not get him to follow Real Science, the professor created a hovering TV to replace himself as their parent and left him and a very young Gaz home for longer and longer periods of time until he was home only a few times a month in recent years. Gaz was the professor's idea of creating a sibling for Dib as well as his attempt at creating life from scratch by combining genetics. Less pressure was put on her than Dib over their lives since she did not have as much expectations placed on her. She had resented Dib and blamed him for a while because of their lack of parent but had slowly gotten over it as they got older and realized that the professor was the one who should be held accountable. The siblings were on good terms now, but at one point after Dib found out where he came from and before making friends with Keef and Skoodge, Gaz had even shunned him and he had been truly alone. Those were dark times for a preteen and he had contemplated suicide most nights. Only thing to keep him going was Zim, the fights with the alien kept him distracted from his own dark thoughts. When Zim was not around, then it was thoughts that, if he was gone, no one would be left to stop the alien and he felt like it was his duty to protect his sister. By this point he did not care so much about the rest of the world, but his sister and a few who had shown him some kindness over the years still deserved to be saved.

Those dark times were still a part of Dib, probably always would be, and so ingrained into his mind that many times he would catch himself thinking dark thoughts again. Then he would remember that people did care about him. Yes, he and his father were not close, but the guy was just a really crappy parent. Raising a family was not for him, he was a scientist through and through, and he had not thought it through properly when he decided to create children of his own. He tried, in his own way, and made sure that they were provided for. Gaz and he had become close, Gaz would even open up to him at times and she was always around if he needed her. Keef and Skoodge were truly friends of his and not just using him. The alien had no use for his dad's technology or Earth money after all and just enjoyed that he did not have to hide his true self with Dib around. For the first time in his long life, he could be himself without being judged by someone. Once Keef's eyes were fixed, he had no need to stay near Dib and be friends with him. Most people did not know him or even remember him from grade skool so when he joined Dib's hi-skool the rest of the students had first tried to befriend him. Especially since he avoided Zim right from the beginning. Only once he tracked Dib down at lunch to sit with him, Gaz, and Skoodge did their classmates begin treating him as an outcast as well.

Keeping these thoughts in mind, Dib decided that he was not going to let Lug push him around anymore. He has friends and family that care for him, he was smart and going somewhere with his life, even if it was not the exact plan that Membrane had laid out for him on creation. Yes, he may not be popular, but at least he knew who he was and did not let things like popularity dictate his life. This time, when Lug jerked his head to face him again after Dib had let his eyes wander to the desk below while thinking, Dib reacted by spitting in his captor's face. He watched in satisfaction at the look of shock that crossed the other boy's face as thick glob landed just below his eye. The look quickly changed to disgust as he removed his hand from Dib's face to wipe away the wet patch on his cheek and to notice that it was mostly blood. Wiping it away had only ended up smearing the offending matter further across his cheek as well.

"Go screw yourself. Or, better yet, get these goons of yours to do it for you since you can't seem to do anything without them. I am tired of being your punching bag. I'm not the weakling that you make me out to be. Without out them here with you, you probably would not do anything aside from insult me. Having people follow you like dogs help with that ego of yours since football and your parents money is the only thing you have going for you? At least I don't need people to lick my boots to feel better about myself."

His mouth really needed to start asking his brain things first before acting. Like, maybe it would be best to not insult someone and spit on them while being pinned down by guys that were nearly twice his weight. Lug's face went dark red and became angrier than Dib had ever seen as he spoke and Dib could feel the two above him tense up at his words. The last thing he saw was Lug's fist flying at his face again before the world around him spun out of control then went black.

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